The Los Angeles Angels have seen some very good pitching this spring. Statistics from Spring Training don't mean much, but to see the Angels rank second not only in the American League but in all of baseball in ERA, that's a good sign.
The Halos appear to have much deeper pitching than many (myself included) expected just based on how these guys have performed. Do I expect them to be the second best team in terms of ERA? No. But this team has the capable arms to be toward the top for sure.
One of those capable arms is Reid Detmers who finished the 2022 campaign on a strong note and looks like he took another leap after watching him in Spring Training.
Angels SP Reid Detmers continues monster spring with increased velocity
Reid Detmers had a really nice first full season in the Angels rotation. He had a 3.77 ERA in 25 starts. He improved dramatically in the second half in many areas and became a more consistent version of the pitcher we saw flashes of in the first half.
The southpaw has made four starts for the Angels this spring and all four have gone quite well. Overall, he's allowed three runs on six hits in 13 innings pitched. He's walked four and struck out 17. Yesterday's outing saw Detmers at his best.
Detmers and the Angels faced the Brewers on the road, and faced some of Milwaukee's regulars. Some notable names in the Brewers lineup include Christian Yelich, Brian Anderson, William Contreras, and Luke Voit. It's not the best lineup ever, but those are legitimate MLB players.
Detmers retired the first twelve batters he faced in yesterday's victory. That's four perfect innings. He struck out six batters and looked in complete command.
A key to Detmers appearing to have made such a big jump has to do with his velocity increasing, and his stuff improving. The southpaw averaged 93.2 mph with his four-seam fastball last season. That averaged 94-96 mph yesterday. His slider averaged 85.9 mph last season. That jumped up to 88-91 mph this last time out. He's flashed increased velocity all spring.
The work Detmers spent at Driveline seems to have done wonders for him, and it's very exciting to see.
Detmers serving as the Angels' fourth starter behind Ohtani, Patrick Sandoval, and Tyler Anderson should have fans very excited. If those four pitch up to expectations, the Angels can realistically have four frontline starting pitchers in the same rotation. That's something most teams cannot say they have.